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Source text - Spanish ¿Qué les digo a los chicos? ¿Les diré que sean honestos y derechos, o que aprovechen cada ventaja de la vida? ¿Mística o pragmatismo? ¿Será equivocado inculcarles valores que el mundo parece despreciar?
¡Tanta infundada preocupación! Los hijos escuchan lo que les decimos, pero aprenden de lo que hacemos o dejamos de hacer. Cada pequeña acción, cada gesto, el tono de una respuesta, la inconsistencia entre dichos y hechos... nada escapa del atento escrutinio de esas personitas que la vida ha puesto a nuestro cargo.
Desconsiderados intrusos que demandan nuestro tiempo y atención hasta cuando no nos queda resto, escasos en años y en tamaño pero colmados de humana complejidad, los hijos invaden nuestra privacidad, desarticulan nuestros planes y desvían nuestra brújula hacia nuevos puntos cardinales.
Quisiéramos que estos repositorios inocentes de nuestros anhelos incumplidos sigan las sendas que hemos idealizado y que deseen lo que nos resulta más deseable, pero ellos tienen sus propios sueños y deseos, y deberán encontrar su propia senda.
Una y otra vez intentamos usar nuestra experiencia para protegerlos de los golpes, pero hay cosas que solo se aprenden tropezando, y los acertijos de la vida no tienen una única respuesta.
¡Maravillosos cachorros! Aprendemos de ellos, o con ellos, más que lo que enseñamos. En sus voces nuestras palabras adquieren una nueva perspectiva, y sus necesidades y desafíos nos hacen replantear ideas y sentimientos sedimentados tras años de rutina.
Nuestros hijos nos necesitan porque les señalamos el camino. Nosotros los necesitamos más aún, porque ellos son nuestra huella.
Translation - English What should I tell the kids? To be honest and straight down the line, or to seize every opportunity that life throws at them? Should I encourage them to be dreamers or pragmatists? Am I wrong to instil in them values which the world seems to scorn?
Or am I just worrying over nothing? Our children listen to what we tell them, but they learn from what we do, as well as from what we don't do. Every little action, every gesture, the tone of our replies, inconsistencies between our words and our actions… nothing escapes the eager eyes of these little people placed in our charge by the hand of fate.
They are inconsiderate intruders, who eat up all our time and energy even when we have no more to give, and who, despite their lack of years and apparently insignificant size, are complex human beings who invade our private time, play havoc with our plans and spin the compass that rules our lives in a new direction.
We would dearly love for these innocent manifestations of our unfulfilled desires to follow the paths that we have dreamed of, to want what we ourselves want. They, however, have their own dreams and goals, and have to find their own paths in life.
Time and time again we try to use our own experience to shield them from the pitfalls of life, but some lessons can only be learnt by making mistakes, and the games that life plays with us have more than one right answer.
Aren’t they great, these little kids? We learn more from them and with them than we could ever teach them. On their tongues our words take on a new perspective, and their needs and the challenges they face make us rethink the thoughts and feelings which have rooted themselves within our souls after years of routine.
Our children need us because we show them the path to follow. We need them even more so, as they are the footprints we leave on this path.
I have an MA (Hons) Degree in Interpreting and Translation from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland, as well as 4 years' freelance interpreting experience and 7 years' freelance translation experience. I also spent time as an inhouse translator in agency in California, where I helped set up a Certificate translation department, amongst other things.
Upon returning to Edinburgh, I worked as a operations executive and inhouse translator for an inbound travel company. I have also spent several years working as a project manager for an agency in Madrid.
I have a polished translation style, and am able to translate a wide variety of texts. My clients are always impressed by my style in English, and for that reason I am highly competent in promotional, marketing and other 'persuasive' translations.
For a sample of my work, please visit www.sceuromix.com - I fully translated the English part of this translation company's website.
In 2006 I became a professional member of the ITIA, the Irish Translators' and Interpreters' Association.
I spent 5 years working as an inhouse senior translator for KPMG Madrid in the Audit department, translating a wide range of documents including annual accounts, directors' reports, due diligence reports, and other financial documents.
I now work for Kiva (www.kiva.org) in San Francisco, coordinating a volunteer team of Spanish, French and Russian translators.
Paul Lambert 
Expertise 